McCastle added to MISRGO staff

Pine Bluff, Ark-  Toni McCastle has joined the Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office (MISRGO) staff as a Media Liaison. This position works under the general direction of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) and the 15% Set-A-Side Advisory Committee. Health communication interventions are the primary means to promote prevention and cessation of all tobacco/tobacco-related products. The health communication initiative is directed toward the prevention and cessation of tobacco use. In addition, the Media Liaison monitors the health communication contract for financial and programmatic compliance and oversees execution of programmatic elements including sponsorships, media placement and public relations. “We are very pleased Ms. McCastle has joined our team as Media Liaison,” says Dr. Calvin Johnson, Dean of the School of Education and MISRGO Program Director. “We look forward to her ideas and creativity that will help us fulfill the mission of our program.”

“The Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office feels that McCastle’s experience and enthusiasm will bring a new and innovative approach to the tobacco prevention message,” says Dr. Marian Evans, MISRGO Program Coordinator. “We are excited about the possibilities for the Addiction Studies Program with Ms. McCastle on board,” says Dr. Jerry Lewis, Director of the Addiction Studies Program.

McCastle, a proud east Texas native, transferred to UAPB from The University of North Texas in 1992. She completed her undergraduate studies at Philander Smith College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religion. She adopted the stage moniker, “Toni Seville” and went on to devote herself to seventeen years of tirelessness in the field of communications, television and radio combined. The near twenty-year stretch afforded her the opportunity to work alongside entertainment industry greats and philanthropists such as Tyler Perry, Vanessa Williams, Steve Harvey, Russell Simmons, and former President Bill Clinton.

For more than ten years, Ms. McCastle has repeatedly accepted Jefferson County’s “Community Call” of duty from on-campus arms like SGA, Communications Day, John Graham and M4, to name a few. She recently took an interest in assisting families and children affected by incarceration as advocate and mentor in the Jefferson County Circuit Court Sixth Division Youth Advocate Program. In November of 2009, McCastle founded a non-profit, 501c3, housed in the UAPB Business Incubator. Her community service persists as an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Delta Omega Omega Chapter.

“Being able to return to UAPB, as I know it…“THE YARD”, brings everything full circle for me,” says McCastle. “I look forward to serving the campus that taught me appreciation for my culture, gave me lifelong friendships, and instilled benevolence. I am excited to work with a “sense of urgency” for [MISRGO] and the Addiction Studies Program and all efforts that cultivate and positively promote this great land grant institution.”